All in all the Akasa AK-NBC-01 is a great cooler, it does what it was intended to do very well and is robust enough to survive a few drops, I like the fact Akasa went for aluminium to help keep the laptop cool, as for the noise, well it is very audible, but its not a bugging fan hum. As I type this I am using the laptop on the cooler and it does not bother me while typing and that’s what counts for me.

Overall this missed out on getting the recommended due to the fact one of the USB ports don’t work when in use, maybe if a blanking plate was supplied for it I would be satisfied completely enough to award it recommended. Having said that though, I am still using it now because of its cooling prowess and that is were it excelled so it is still a good product.